Who is the frontrunner?

So, I thought I would blog a weekend post to discuss (or offer a monologue) on who has frontrunner status after the first week of the main competition. Interestingly, most of those considered frontrunners at the beginning of the top 24 have slipped. I can remember the first week when everyone thought we were headed for a Carly vs. Aussie Mike finale. Now, that seems much less likely. Both of them have given solid performances, but, with the exception of Carly's "Come Together" performance, neither of them have established themselves as the one's to beat. Our only realy frontrunner, David A., had a HORRIBLE first week. We'll have to wait until next week to see if his youth and inexperience will lead to an early exit OR if last week was just a blip on his way to the title.

Brooke White is an interesting contestant to me. From the start, she has seemed like a sweet girl who would hang in for a minute, but had no real shot at the title. And still, there are those who don't really "get" Brooke. However, in my opinion, the girl has established herself as a definite contestant of interest. I have been very impressed with her poise and composure through the first four rounds. I think she has definitely moved to the top of the pack as far as the girls are concerned.

Rocker David is another who I think has pulled out in front of the pack. His ascent really started with his performance of "Hello". It continued this last week with his rockin rendition of Eleanor Rigby. From the start, I really considered him a middle of the pack guy, but I really think he is poised to play the dark horse role in this competition. All of the contributors got together and did a pre top 12 prediction of who would leave when, and interestingly, we all picked David Cook to ride his dark horse status all the way to the finals. It will be very interesting to see how he progresses.

Finally, I'm curious to see how Aussie Mike and Carly perform and how far they get. Again, they were my early picks for the finals, and they could still get there, but I think their odds are much smaller now, than at the beginning. At this point, I think they have to pull out solid performances each week to stay out of danger. I don't think they have the following to pull a David A. from week one and not go to the bottom three.

Next week we get another Lennon/McCartney song book week. I'm curious to see if the Idols have to choose from the remaining songs or if they will get to pick any song they wish (e.g. a song another contestant performed last week). If the latter is true, I really want Brooke White or David A. to pick "In My Life" and perform it the way it should have been done, instead of that wishy-washy version Ramiele threw out there last week.

What do y'all think? I'm curious to hear your thoughts . . . and once again, thanks for reading!